Cardi B is enjoying herself one of the great breakout summer seasons that the music industry has seen in quite some time. A true rags-to-riches story, the one-time stripper achieved fame on Instagram before making her way onto VH1's reality TV circuit with Love & Hip-Hop, capturing the popular zeitgeist with phrases like "I’mma get the schmoney." Now, she's got the biggest rap song in the world to her name as well, with "Bodak Yellow" cracking the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week. With her red-hot status in the music biz right now, it was high time that The New York Times gave her some attention in their "Fashion & Style" section, which can be read online now.
Billed as a "regular degular schmegular girl from the Bronx," Cardi B gave the Times access to her unfiltered pre-show routine, before she took the stage for a hotel party in New York City. With an estimated 4,000-plus in attendance that night, Cardi seemed to be feeling a bit of pressure to give her fans a memorable night. Her staff provided a calming, confident atmosphere around the 24-year-old rapper though, with her publicist Patience Foster talking about how it's "when," not "if" she'll go to No. 1 with "Bodak." The signs of her humble beginnings keep coming back to her over the course of the article as well, talking about how the price tag on the first pair of Louboutins that she bought floored her. Apparently, the most she had ever spent on a pair of shoes before that point was $300.
In the present moment, she's been keeping busy as ever. According to the article, she just wrapped recording new tracks in Atlanta, right after she'd been welcomed onto the stage by Drake during OVO Fest in Toronto. In a whirlwind scenario right before the show, Cardi was able to get into position to take the stage just in time, as personnel doted over her until the last second. For the hip-hop world, I think it's time to believe the hype: Cardi B is undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with when it comes to budding rap stars.